STAR Wars broke the internet when sci-fans overwhelmed a Bolton cinema with advanced bookings for December’s blockbuster sequel.

So many people tried snapping up tickets to Bolton Cineworld’s midnight screening of The Force Awakens that the cinema’s website temporarily struggled to keep up with demand yesterday, October 19.

Thankfully the incident was only short-lived and no-one left empty handed.

Such has been the demand for tickets that Cineworld Bolton manager, Stephen Halvorsen, hasn’t ruled out dedicating every single one of the screens to midnight showings of director JJ Abrams’ Episode VII.

He said: “They went on sale at 8am and cinemas including ours had a few problems keeping up at first. Everyone who wanted one got a ticket though.

“We’re in a very good position in this country – we get to see the film 24 hours before the Americans.

“We will be doing a midnight screening between December 16 to 17. That’s currently across two screens with a capacity of 1,000 each.

“But if we need 15 screens showing the midnight to keep up with demand then so be it.”

The highly-anticipated full trailer for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens - the seventh film in the franchise - has been unveiled two months before the film hits cinemas.

The trailer opens with Daisy Ridley's character Rey and John Boyega's Finn questioning their places in the galaxy, before new antagonist Kylo Ren, played by Girls star Adam Driver, promises to finish what Darth Vader started.

There are also glimpses of the stars of the original trilogy, with Harrison Ford's Han Solo and Peter Mayhew's Chewbacca appearing, as well as a fleeting glimpse of Carrie Fisher as Leia. Missing from the footage is Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker but there are sweeping shots of the Millennium Falcon, Storm Troopers and plenty of action accompanied by a soaring score to keep fans happy.

Cineworld will be showing the movie in both 2D and 3D and are happy for people to come dressed as characters from the Star Wars saga.

It’s a busy month for the cinema, located in The Valley. On Monday, the multiplex is offering a gala premiere style feel for the new Bond movie, Spectre.

“There will be a red carpet, some Jaguar cars outside and people dressed in tuxedos. It’s half term next week, so it will provide a really good start to children’s holidays.”

Book tickets, check times or find out more about all the forthcoming Cineworld screenings at cineworld.co.uk/cinemas/Bolton